$191 Million in Recovery Funds Now Available for Nebraska to Save Jobs and Drive Education Reform

U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced more than $191 million is now available for Nebraska under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. This funding will lay the foundation for a generation of education reform and help save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs at risk of state and local budget cuts. Nebraska will be eligible to apply for another $94 million this fall. Today’s funding is being made available per Nebraska’s successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application, which was made available on April 1st.

“The $191 million Nebraska will receive today is part of the single largest boost in education funding in recent history,” said Duncan. “The President’s leadership and support from Congress have made this historic investment possible. Nebraska can now utilize these funds to save jobs and lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform.”

To date, Nebraska has received $67 million in education stimulus funds—representing a combination of funding for Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation Grants, Independent Living Grants and Impact Aid. On April 1, Nebraska received $24 million in Title I funding and almost $40 million in IDEA funding. This represents 50 percent of the Title I and IDEA funding Nebraska is eligible for in total. On April 1, Nebraska also received $1.5 million in Vocational Rehab funds and more than $416,000 in Independent Living funds. On April 10, Nebraska received more than $850 thousand in Impact Aid funding.

In order to receive today’s funds, Nebraska provided assurances that it will collect, publish, analyze and act on basic information regarding the quality of classroom teachers, annual student improvements, college readiness, the effectiveness of state standards and assessments, progress on removing charter caps and interventions in turning around underperforming schools.

Nebraska is also required by the Department of Education to report the number of jobs saved through Recovery Act funding, the amount of state and local tax increases averted, and how funds are used.